The Hermitage Dogs

Treasures from the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Paper $22.95ISBN: 9781910065679
Published
October 2015
For Sale in USA and Canada Only

One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has been open to the public since 1852. Its collections hold more than three million items, from Egyptian and classical antiquities, jewelry and weapons, to a stunning range of Russian and European masterworks from the Renaissance to the present.

And hiding in and among those three million items, in plain sight yet all but unnoticed? Dogs. This book gives humanity’s favorite four-footed friends the run of the place, reproducing dozens of images of dogs from the artworks held by the Hermitage. From full-on portraits to minor, incidental images from the edges of giant canvases—which are among the most surprising and entertaining animals in the books—Hermitage Dogs will set tails wagging for art lovers and pet owners alike.

Our First Ally There is a Little Dog in All of Us Companions if Gods and Heroes The God in the Kingdom of the Dead Intermediaries between Worlds Dogs in the Calendar and the Heavens Pure and Impure Dogs: Symbols and Allegories Dogs in Service Guard Dogs Herding Dogs Hunting Dogs Dogs of War Rescuers Draught Dogs Sniffer Dogs The Romanov’s Dogs Man’s Best Friend

Review Quotes

Kennel Gazette

"There are hunting dogs, famous packs, draught dogs, delightful toys, dogs famous and unknown. Most illuminating is the chapter on dogs as symbols: dogs can be conveying fidelity, status, piety, hope, watchfulness and even their place on the canvas had meaning to the contemporary eye."

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu